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Viktor
Eric Thompson3 (born December 4, 1980), better known under his ring name Rick Victor, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is working under the ring name Viktor as part of the tag team The Ascension. While in WWE's devoplemental territory NXT, he was the longest reigning NXT Tag Team Champions of all time (alongside his Ascension partner Konnor), and he is also a former Florida Tag Team Champion with Brad Maddox. He previously worked as Apoc for Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he was a two-time OVW Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2001–2011) Thompson began his career in the Hart Dungeon,4 under the teachings of Bruce and Ross Hart. He also received training under Tokyo Joe.2 He started working for Stampede Wrestling in 2001 as Bishop, later to be renamed "Apocalypse" which he continued to work as until 2008. In Stampede Wrestling, he won the North American Heavyweight Championship. He also held the International Tag Team Championship twice with partner Dave Swift. He did a tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling as "The Shadow" in November–December 2003.2 In his first match, he teamed with Scott Norton against Josh Barnett and Hiroyoshi Tenzan.2 He also had matches with Manabu Nakanishi and Tenzan.2 In addition, he teamed with Norton frequently on the tour.4 Apoc would debut under the name Apocalypse for Derby City Wrestling in a thirty man battle royal, which was eventually would be won by Electrico. Apocalypse would team up with Al Barone to take part in the DCW Tag Team Title Tournament but were defeated by Damian Adams & Jamin Olivencia in the first round. Apocalypse got to the final of the DCW Championship Tournament but would lose to Big Cat. For the rest of 2008, Apocalypse would form multiple tag teams with Kharn Alexander, Vaughn Lilas and Fang. On January 16, 2008, Apoc would debut under his new name Erik Doom and lost to Justin LaRouche. He would continue to lose most of his matches which is customary in nearly all wrestling promotions. Doom and Kharn Alexander lost to Los Locos (Ramon & Raul) in a match for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. He went back to his old name, Apocalypse before being renamed Apoc in late spring. On May 21, Apoc took on Nick Dinsmore for the OVW Heavyweight Championship but lost. Apoc teamed with Vaughn Lilas for several months before winning the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship from Darriel Kelly & Josh Lowry. The team would lose the titles to Dirty Money & Scott Cardinal in a championship vs $1000 match. After the loss the team would split and the two began feuding for the OVW Heavyweight Championship which Vaughn was currently holding. In February, Apoc beat Vaughn for the championship and would hold it for two months before losing it to Vaughn once again and regaining the championship in May. He would go on to lose the championship to Low Rider. While wrestling in Canada in 2010, Apoc primarily wrestled for WFX Wrestling and Prairie Wrestling Alliance. He took on Jack Sloan for the PWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship twice but failed both times. He formed a stable with Kevin Thorn and Gangrel and took part in WFX Tag Team Championship Tournament but went out in the first round. He would go on to feud with the PWA Mayhem Champion Randy Myers, after losing a few times, Apoc defeated Myers in a two out of three falls match for the championship. WWE Developmental territories (2011–2014) In February 2011, Thompson signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling under the ring name Rick Victor.5 Victor made his televised in-ring debut for on the May 29, 2011 episode of FCW TV, teaming with Leo Kruger in a loss to Hunico and Epico6 On the July 31 episode of FCW TV, Victor challenged Seth Rollins for his FCW 15 Championship, but was defeated.7 From April to May 2012, Victor formed an association with the Anti-Divas (Sofia Cortez and Paige).89 At a FCW live event on June 16, 2012, Victor defeated Seth Rollins to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Immediately afterwards, he lost the title to Bo Dallas in another match.10 He regained the title from Dallas at another FCW live event on July 13, 2012, making him a two-time champion.11 He lost the title to Richie Steamboat a week later. On July 28, 2012, Victor won the Florida Tag Team Championship with Brad Maddox.12 When WWE rebranded its developmental territory, FCW, into NXT Wrestling,13 Victor's NXT television debut took place on the first episode of the rebooted WWE NXT taped at Full Sail University, where he lost to Bo Dallas.14 On the July 12 episode of NXT, Victor confronted and slapped the NXT Champion, Seth Rollins,15 leading to Rollins facing and defeating Victor in a non-title match on the July 19, 2012 NXT.16 The Ascension (2013–present) Main article: The Ascension (professional wrestling) Victor resurfaced nearly a year later in NXT when he became Conor O'Brian's partner in the Ascension1718 On September 12, the Ascension defeated Adrian Neville and Corey Graves to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. On November 10, O'Brian and Victor's ring names were changed to simply "Konnor" and "Viktor", respectively. On February 27, 2014 at NXT Arrival, he and Konnor successfully defended their championships against Too Cool, repeating the feat on May 29 at NXT TakeOver, against El Local and Kalisto.19 Viktor alongside Konnor made his main roster debut on the September 9, 2014 edition of WWE Main Event, with the duo defeating Los Matadores in a tag-team match to promote their title defense against the team of Kalisto and Sin Cara at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event. He and Konnor would go on to lose the match and their title to Kalisto and Sin Cara (known now as the Lucha Dragons). Later at the event the Ascension attacked the debuting Hideo Itami, but were driven off. The following week they again attacked Itami after he wrestled his first NXT match. On the September 25th NXT Konnor and Viktor lost a rematch to the Lucha Dragons after Hideo Itami showed up on stage, distracting Konnor. Viktor, alongside Konnor, made his main roster debut on the September 9, 2014 edition of Main Event, with the duo defeating Los Matadores in a tag-team match to promote their NXT tag title defense against the team of Kalisto and Sin Cara at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4 Way event. They didn't reappear until the December 12 episode of SmackDown, when a vignette aired showing The Ascension with face paint, hyping their debut. The Ascension made their debut on the December 29th episode of Raw, quickly defeating The Miz and Damien Mizdow.20 Since their debut, the team have frequently claimed to be better than legendary tag teams like Demolition and The Road Warriors, effectively turning them heel. In wrestling * Finishing moves ** Canadian Lifter / Psycho Crusher21 (Flying European uppercut)722 - FCW ** Lariat ** Tiger Bomb/Tiger Driver (Double underhook powerbomb) * Signature moves ** Belly-to-back suplex ** Elbow drop ** European uppercut ** Knife edge chop ** STO * With Conor O'Brian ** Fall of Man23 (Legsweep (Konnor) / Flying European uppercut (Viktor) combination)2425 * Nicknames ** The Space Lord 26 * Managers ** Sofia Cortez ** Paige * Entrance music ** "Hell's Army" by Neal Acree & Robert Anthony Navarro (FCW/NXT; 2012) ** "Let Battle Commence" by Daniel Nielsen (NXT; 2013–2014; used while teaming with Konnor as part of The Ascension) ** "Rebellion" by CFO$ (NXT; 2014–present; used while teaming with Konnor as part of The Ascension) Championships and accomplishments * Florida Championship Wrestling ** FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)2728 ** FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brad Maddox29 * Ohio Valley Wrestling ** OVW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ** OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Vaughn Lilas * Prairie Wrestling Alliance ** PWA Heavyweight Championship ** PWA Mayhem Championship * Pro Wrestling Illustrated ** PWI ranked him #'128' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 201430 * Stampede Wrestling ** Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Dave Swift ** Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * WWE NXT ** NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Konnor